December 2009

Transition time for the Old Takoma business district

In November, Savory Café suddenly closed. Savory had become a local institution over more than a decade, providing the community with premium coffee and a convenient gathering place.

by Seth Grimes
photos by Julie Wiatt

The Old Takoma business district is in transition, with two new businesses opening near the Takoma Metro station and a hardware store slated for Carroll Avenue, balanced by the closing of Savory Café and the Drifting Nomad coffeehouse.  While plans have been revived for construction of a residential-commercial building on Carroll Street NW between Maple and Cedar (the “Ecco Park” site), commercial vacancies continue to nag the Takoma Junction area, near the TPSS Co-op.

On the plus side, A Few Cool Hardware Stores has signed a lease to open its 7th Baltimore-Washington area store, at 7001-3 Carroll Avenue, the former Taliano’s and Rerun spaces. Co-owner Gina Schaefer expects the new store, a locally owned member of the international Ace Hardware co-operative, to open next spring.  “We chose Takoma Park for a variety of reasons,” Schaefer explained.  “We prefer vibrant urban locations with a lot of foot traffic.  We thought that the residents of Takoma Park would appreciate and understand our business model, and the location that we chose is about the perfect size for us and includes parking.” 

A hardware store will be moving into the former Taliano's and Rerun spaces.

Schaefer stated that the store “will have a growing selection of green products” and will welcome special orders.  She added, “We also have a bustling small tool rental program.  Customers can rent items such as power drills, saws, ladders and carpet cleaners.  We want to help with home improvement projects in ways other than making a final sale.”
Another change will precede the hardware store’s arrival.  Contradiction Dance is leaving its Westmoreland Avenue studio space at the end of the year and has become the Dance Company in Residence at Round House Theatre in Silver Spring.  The Old Takoma Curves franchise will relocate to the Contradiction Dance space according to landlord Bruce Levin, and the hardware store will additionally use the current Curves space.

The new hardware store will join other recent additions to Old Takoma’s Main Street: the area stretching from Fourth Street NW in the District to Takoma Junction.  The Cedar Crossing Tavern & Wine Bar opened November 12 at 341 Cedar St., NW, just west of the Takoma Metro station, and My Little Bistro, close by at 353 Cedar St., NW, had an unpublicized “soft opening” just days later.

Sarbjit Singh Kochhar, owner of S&S Liquors at Fourth and Blair, teamed with Culture Shop owners Mona and Valentine Davies to open the new bar, which by all reports has been well received by the community.  Kochhar stated that the co-owners plan to gradually extend operating hours and begin serving Sunday brunch once water problems, which have forced the temporary use of disposable products for food service, have been resolved. 

Kochhar added that he expects to proceed with plans to develop property he owns on Blair Road, NW, adjacent to the S&S Liquors site, once favorable economic conditions return.

My Little Bistro

My Little Bistro is similarly a local operation that has been “welcomed very warmly by the community,” according to Edwin Rodriguez, whose family owns and operates the counter-service restaurant.  Rodriguez attended Takoma Academy and the University of Maryland and lives nearby, out New Hampshire Avenue.  Rodriguez and his family chose their Takoma location because of proximity to the Metro station, he said, and the neighborhood’s appreciation for “quality, fresh food.”  While the restaurant opened without fanfare, a grand opening is planned for early December.

The owners of Savory and the Drifting Nomad did not respond to requests for comment on their closures, but frequent Savory staff turnover in the 18 months since the restaurant was purchased by the Kim family suggested management issues.  A steep planned rent increase reportedly prompted the Drifting Nomad’s closing.  At least two Washington area restaurant operators have stated plans to look at possibly moving into the Savory location, and another restaurant owner, forced out of the Shaw neighborhood by a rent increase, has also expressed interest in the site.

At least one regional coffee-house operator has stated his intent to look at the Drifting Nomad site.

Just a block away, Red Brick Development is managing clean-up of the lot at 235 Carroll Street, NW, where the company plans to proceed with the long-awaited Ecco Park development, although under a new name, possibly Takoma Station.  The site between Maple and Cedar Streets formerly housed Sunoco and Gulf (now Chevron) gasoline stations.  The clean-up is being conducted by the oil companies and involves removing underground tanks and contaminated soil. 

Red Brick Vice President Jason Gerstein expects to begin 16 months of construction by early next spring, once the District of Columbia Department of the Environment approves the site clean-up.  The building will be LEED environmentally certified, with four stories of residential rental apartments above 6,000 square feet of ground-level commercial space and one level of underground parking.

Speaking at an October community meeting, Gerstein said, “The character of the neighborhood is one of the things that make us so interested in the site.”   Prospective commercial tenants won’t look at the building until much later, he said, but he hopes to lease to businesses that will complement the residential use and “become a shopping destination.”  Gerstein said he welcomes suggestions. 

In the Takoma Junction area, the city-owned lot next to the TPSS Co-op is expected to be available for possible redevelopment by late 2010, once the city’s new firehouse at Carroll and Philadelphia Avenues is ready for occupancy.  Takoma Park Public Works Director Daryl Braithwaite relayed that Montgomery County’s firehouse project manager has confirmed a June 2, 2010 construction completion date.  The new headquarters of community group Historic Takoma is a short distance down Carroll Avenue from the fire station and the Co-op.  The organization is awaiting an occupancy permit  and is raising funds to finish the space to open publicly next year.

The rest of the Junction picture is mixed, however, with several current commercial vacancies.  Takoma Park Council Member Dan Robinson represents Ward 3, which includes the Junction.  According to Robinson, “There are several underlying realities that make a healthy and thriving Junction difficult: property owners who don’t have a close enough connection with our community, a tough relationship with the State Highway Administration, a harsh economic climate, and a City government with little experience developing and supporting commercial property.”  Robinson’s remedy: “If we think creatively, and stay nimble – we have a cohesive community and generally responsive and accessible government – we can develop the City lot in a way that works for consumers and keeps rents and maintenance costs low. In this environment, pushing costs down is the only way to survive.”

Roz Grigsby, executive director of the Old Takoma Business Association (OTBA), has an additional prescription. “Residents who are concerned about the commercial areas in Takoma Park can get involved in Main Street Takoma committees,” she said.”  The business association’s Economic Restructuring committee – which along with the Design, Promotions, and Organization committees looks after Takoma Park’s state-designated main street – has posted the report from an Old Takoma market survey on-line at www.mainstreettakoma.org.  The site also provides information on volunteering in efforts to support Old Takoma businesses.

OTBA expects to co-sponsor community meetings on Old Takoma in the coming months with the participation of city officials.  These cooperative efforts, coupled with strong community patronage of new and established businesses, are key to ensuring the continued viability of the Old Takoma business district